Next up for Carlos Curbelo: millennials

Florida Republican joins nonprofit that grew out of the last big government shutdown

Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, the Florida Republican who lost his seat in November to Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, has landed a new gig.

Curbelo announced Thursday that he will join the advisory board of the Millennial Action Project, a nonprofit founded during the 2013 government shutdown to urge younger lawmakers to work across the aisle and to bring civility to the governing process, including on such divisive issues as climate change and immigration.

“One of my goals in my post-congressional career is to continue working on the causes that motivated me,” Curbelo told CQ. “The politicians of yesteryear are leaving behind quite the legacy of dysfunction and discord, and I’m hopeful that as new generations continue seeping into the Congress, they will help usher in the political renaissance this country so desperately needs.”

Steven Olikara, founder and president of the millennial group, said Curbelo served as co-chairman of its affiliated Congressional Future Caucus and will now, after his defeat for re-election, serve as a role model to its network of more than 800 state and federal lawmakers across the country.

“Carlos was fearless — he put solutions over partisanship,” Olikara said. “He sought to move his party on issues like climate change and immigration.  . . .  Now, he can help change the system from the outside. I think he’s going to be a very effective advocate for healing the toxicity of our political system.”

Curbelo, 38, says his work with the young lawmakers group won’t be his only post-Congress job. He’s already on the board of advisers for the Alliance for Market Solutions, a conservative-leaning, alternative energy organization. And he’s a contributor for Telemundo and MSNBC.

Might he sign on with a K Street shop, too?

“There’s more coming,” he hinted. “I hope I can do it all.”

Next up for Carlos Curbelo: millennials

Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, the Florida Republican who lost his seat in November to Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, has landed a new gig. Curbelo announced Thursday that he will join the advisory board of the Millennial Action Project, a nonprofit founded during the 2013 government shutdown to urge younger lawmakers to work across the aisle and to bring civility to the governing process, including on such divisive issues as climate change and immigration.